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Lyle Du Font
Lyle Du Font IV (b. 1995, Lyle la Crusk de Vile Du Font IV) is the last known living member of the Du Font family tree known for weapons crafting. He is the son of Gregoire Du Font III, prior mayor of Truffleton, Kansas, who was killed by Lyle in a duel during The Great War in 2022 when Lyle was 27 years old. He is the self-claimed best marksman in the entire post-Great War world, and has never lost a duel. As of 2045 he is 50 years old. He lives in the Du Font Manor located north of the Truffleton Chocolate Factory in Truffleton. : He has gained notoriety as conman, art and weapons collector, and master marksman and gunsmith. He killed his father during the war and inherited all of his father's belongings, although due to the chaos of Truffleton at the time, did not assume any political role. His father was also an expert in marksmanship and Lyle supposedly cheated in the duel, drawing and shooting his gun a few seconds early. Although Lyle did in fact cheat according to his journal entries, Lyle has dismissed this charge as slander from "...jealous and worthless wanna' bees." : Although the exact reasons as to why he challenged his father to a duel is unknown to the townspeople, theories are that he did it either out of jealousy of his father's abilities, for political power, or for the weapon that his father owned, the infamous Golden Crusk, the Du Font family heirloom that harnesses highly advanced cold fusion technology in order to propel its projectiles through the fourth dimension, giving the weapon superior accuracy and devastation than to that of any other handgun. Background Childhood : Born on July 8th, 1995, in San Fernando, Trinidad, during the World Marksmanship Competition that his father, Gregoire Du Font III, was attending for a summer's stay. Gregoire won first place with his newly crafted gun, The Golden Crusk, which upon receiving the first place medal gave the gun to Lyle in his crib. Lyle had reportedly shot and killed both the second and third place winners while the media and the onlookers were focused on the medal being handed to Gregoire. Lyle was no more than a month old at the time of the shooting. There was never enough evidence to pass that Lyle was responsible, although some of Gregoire's journal entries recovered in 2027 revealed that not only that he knew Lyle had shot the two men but that, "...it was the proudest moment in my entire life. All I ever wanted to do was be a good father and hone his amazing natural talent, and now he is turned against me in some sort of psychological war that continues to heavily burden me as these darkening days go on." : It is commonly believed that Gregoire was here writing of his late experiences with his son following the death of his mother and Gregoire's wife, Laura, due to a freak accident involving a suicide jumper falling from the top story of Beady's Bean Corporation tower in Truffleton and landing on top of Laura. : During his youth Lyle grew up being highly ostracized by his classmates and neighborhood friends. He spent most of his free time practicing archery, artillery, or shooting with a pistol he received for his 7th birthday handcrafted by his father. When he turned 14 his father showed him his crafting shop where he and past Du Font family made their world-famous guns. Gregoire taught Lyle the secrets behind the inner-workings of The Golden Crusk, which was incredibly advanced for its time. No one is quite sure how Gregoire was able to invent a weapon so advanced even by late pre-Great War standards fifty years ago. Gregoire knew a local scientist, whom may have contributed to the technological intricacies of the weapon, but even then the ingenious mechanisms of the gun which are still not known by public knowledge today could only have came from the mind of the Du Font family. : Education : Like his father Lyle was highly intelligent and charismatic. He graduated summa cum laude from Truffleton East High School and went on to get a master's degree in military warfare and a minor's in English literature from Yale a year before the breakout of The Great War. : : Pre-Great War Life and Events Leading Up to Gregoire Du Font's Murder : During Lyle's his university years his father Gregoire had been elected mayor for his fourth four-year term. After graduating he returned to Truffleton and from the base of the Du Font Manor began to retail the family's guns via an online database he had created. Although the company's sales and stocks rose a considerable amount, Gregoire was infuriated by his son's actions claiming that they disgraced the family's long and arduous efforts to sell and manufacture the highest quality weapons through traditional means. In his fury Gregoire and Lyle were caught in a heated argument for the rest of the night. The arguments continued on every night since Lyle refused to take the site down on accounts of the wonders it was doing for the company. During this time the family received the grave news of the early events of The Great War. Lyle's mother, Laura, began to cry to herself and take long walks in the night around east side Truffleton. During the remaining two months that this went on Laura began to cut herself and write poetry of the experiences she encountered during her walks, some of which went on to become posthumously published. : Finally, on a cold winter's night in November of 2020, while Laura was out walking in a deeply depressed state, witnesses outside a local bar saw her suddenly crushed by a suicide jumper falling from Beady's Bean Corporation in center east Truffleton. Police knocked on the Du Font Manor door early that morning during a passionate argument between Lyle and Gregoire. When Gregoire came to the door and received the news he began to scream at Lyle, blaming him for his wife's death. Both Lyle and Gregoire went into extremely depressed states the following years, isolating each other from each other and the rest of the world in the chaos of the bombings of Washing D.C. and other major cities lost during the early phases of The Great War. Lyle occupied only the top floor of the manor while Gregoire stayed cooped up in his workshop located in the basement. Gregoire would continue to live in the basement even after Lyle's department into the frontier lands and a year later it was during these last weeks of his life that Gregoire added the final adjustments to The Golden Crusk giving it the ability to actually rip the time-space continuum. : Despite a year in the past, the relations between the two did not heal. Gregoire tried to keep as far from the media as possible as mayor to avoid questions concerning his wife's death, though rumors in Truffleton began to spread due to signs of his blatant state of depression. Lyle began to take extremely dangerous trips near the frontier eastern United States that had became overran with stranded society, challenging survivors in the area to duels. Lyle would tell his opponent that if they won they would be able to have all of the food and money and weapons on his dead body. Lyle never lost, and within a year of his travels begam to become a post-war celebrity among the desperate conditions of the eastern United States. : Before the frontier was lost to combinations of cold fusion and nuclear warfare, Lyle returned to Truffleton in 2022. Upon his return he immediately challenged his father to a duel. According to one of Lyle's journal entires his father accepted because, "...being the man he was, he accepted. Being the man I was, I cheated." : Lyle shot his father in the head at roughly seventy yards away from each other outside of Truffleton prior to the Kansas bombings in 2023. The duel was in secret, and much of Truffleton's population had already moved out in fear the war was catching up towards the Midwest and headed out to the western coast where they were presumably either killed or assimilated into The Unified Anarchist of the Free State regime. : After this Lyle returned to the manor and lived there the following weeks leading up to the Kansas bombings. : The mayor's body was soon found and panic occurred amongst Truffleton residents. This was shortly followed by the Kansas bombings in 2023 which wiped out the majority of Truffleton's remaining population. During the first meeting held after the bombing by the remaining survivors Lyle confronted the entire crowd and openly admitted to killing his father in a duel. The towns people were aghast. Lyle told them that if anyone wished to duel him he was entirely open to, "...such audacious yet comically hopeless challenges on the behalf of any of my future opponents." : He has been scorned and despised by the majority of post-war Truffleton since and his manor has been subject to much vandalism, primarily by The Pole City Boys. : Post-Great War Life and Events : Du Font continued to be despised by Truffleton following the official beginnings of the A.S.C.A. and the unofficial ending of The Great War that came with it. Du Font has very few decent relationships with anyone from Truffleton, although has been known to commonly engage in academic debates with Hubert Thanasis. He has also been seen to socialize with a local Truffleton attorney on the balcony of his manor, the two often engaging in shooting competitions that involve knocking out targets on the far outskirts of of Truffleton, usually mutants or survivalists in the area, usually accompanied by the consumption of whisky. : Although few and far between, Du Font has taken vacations outside of Truffleton between the death of his father in 2022 and 2045. The people of Truffleton do not exactly know where he goes during these vacations lasting anywhere from a short duration of two weeks to as long as six months. He often leaves the city by foot but usually arrives back outside the gates on some sort of vehicle. It is assumed because of this that he travels to the area in the west owned by The Unified Anarchists of the Free State under the regime of Moses Beach, as this is the only area left in the United States known to have access to gasoline or oil reserves. : According to a journal entry Du Font apparently competes in a series of contests held in the region by a branch of the U.A.F.S. involving marksmanship display. Due to his skill and always winning the tournaments he has became a beloved celebrity within the area and writes, "Indeed, it is like I live two entirely different lives. Here in Truffleton I live a life being despised by worthless fools, while during my stays in Sacramento I am considered a champion and esteemed hero by equally worthless fools." : As to why he just does not stay in Sacramento he writes, "...the place is terribly ran down and one is kept under a constant watch by odd video screens wherever one goes in the crumbling metropolis. I once stepped into a laboratory and was evaded by one of the confounded machines...the place is filled with vile pilgrims who think of themselves as false prophets and saviors. They are all a truly disgusting lot." : As far as anyone knows, Du Font is the only person not a member of the U.A.F.S. that is allowed access in and out of the area. The people of Truffleton allow him back in only because he often brings supplies of oils, gasoline, and rare foodstuffs back with him which he gives to the city council to distribute. Some Truffleton residents believe that because of this he has a kind heart deep inside, although this is entirely untrue, and only does this for access into a city that he writes..."I only keep residence within due to my family's manor and long heritage that comes with it. I plan to die here one day in both being the victor and the defeated in a duel with the man who I could never defeat, myself." Family Tree and Prestige : Lyle Du Font IV is named after his grandfather, Lyle Du Font III. The paternal family's namesake is somewhat odd as it follows a binary ascending system rather than the usual mono-surname format. The Du Font family name is highly prestigious and comes from a long line of gun craftsmanship, although the business really took off with Gregoire Du Font I, a French immigrant who came to Truffleton in the early 1800's. Gregoire I had his first son and named him Lyle Du Font I, who named his first son Gregoire Du Font II, and so on and so on until the birth of Lyle Du Font IV. Lyle Du Font II had two sons and decided to name one Lyle Du Font III and the other Gregoire Du Font III, which is why Lyle Du Font IV's name seems to have skipped a generation, though it is really just one of the byproducts of using a binary inherited surname. Although both Lyle Du Font I and Gregoire Du Font II both held political power during their lives, Gregoire Du Font III is the only Du Font to have ever been mayor of Truffleton. Characteristics Age : As of January 1, 2045, Du Font is 50 years of age. Despite his rather old age, Du Font appears incredibly young. Rumors around Truffleton say that he actually sold his soul to the Devil, as he hasn't seemed to age since the closure of the Truffleton Chocolate Factory back in 2020. Personality : Lyle is often seen by his fellow Truffleton residents as the Ebenezer Scrooge of the town. They consider him a vile, contemptuous character who only thinks of himself, and these accusations are quite accurate. Lyle has made a religion out of himself. He is incredibly vain and self-righteous, and carries a hand mirror with him when out in public to look at himself. This is often the only ''thing he does during the monthly town hall meetings. : When Du Font does speak to other residents of Truffleton, he uses very grandiloquent language and speaks in a very lofty tone. Considering the development of new post-war vernacular and that many post-war residents never received any proper education, to them it seems as if Du Font speaks an entirely different language. Abilities : Lyle is incredibly intelligent, in some areas rivaling that of Professor Thanasis. He is very well rounded in his knowledge of the world in concerns to both pre and post-war history. He is an expert at military logistics. He possesses a nearly inhuman level of knowledge concerning military warfare. Despite this, he writes, ''"...such trivial battles are dull to me. I could name any recorded battle ever taken place throughout human history, its military leaders, even the type of soil of where it took place, and yet I feel increasingly bored by the torpid affairs that these uncultured people take part in." : Lyle is very cunning and has a somewhat uncanny ability to read people's faces very well. He is an excellent orator, although when he does give speeches makes them brief, taciturn, and to the point. He is a skilled thief and has in his past years been known to steal very valuable items on his trips to the eastern frontier during the early onset of The Great War, usually paintings, rare books, sculptures, or gems. The manor's library and grand hall contain forty-three one-of-a-kind-items including the original copy of the Necronomicon, the Panthassus Ruby, Michelangelo's The Statue of David, Rodin's The Thinker, Munch's The Scream, Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup I, and one of the toilets from the Buckingham Palace that is displayed as the center piece of his collection. : More than anything else, Lyle is gifted in his eyesight and marksmanship ability. Like his father Lyle has an unnatural knack for the ability to shoot, aim, and to mentally judge the mathematical travel of most projectiles at incredibly fast speeds. Describing this, he writes, "It isn't so much conducting highly advanced mathematics with consideration of factors like wind speed, the Coriolis Effect, elevation variation and what-not, so much as it is just a natural feel as to how the projectile will travel and within what circumstances it will accomplish the task at hand." Physical Characteristics : Du Font is tall and stands stiffly, usually in a ridiculously self-righteous pose with himself holding his prized gun up with a ninety-degree angle formed by his right arm. He wears a dark crimson cape and an excessively fancy outfit that is caught somewhere between Shakespearean and 17th century New World Explorer attire. His suit consists of a series of belt straps and chains to strengthen his torso structure. He wears tightly laced boots and gloves. He takes his protection off only when he sleeps. : He has dirty blonde hair and deep gray eyes. He has an accented nose with a long, narrow bridge that rounds out the bone structure of his face. He has a clefted chin that is long and narrow with a large dimple running down the middle. He has a small beauty mark on the upper park of his left jaw. Idiosyncrasies : Du Font is known to use an overly complex lexicon to get even the most simplest of messages across. He stands in a very odd and constant stance when standing still, as described in his physical characteristics. He carries his prized gun, The Golden Crusk, with him at all times. He is often seen in public looking at himself in his hand mirror, stroking and patting his hair. Deep Dark Secrets : Du Font is a man of mystery, that much is certain. Perhaps his deepest secret is that he actually regrets killing his father. He puts off the image that he was happy to be rid of his father as he sees family and emotional ties as a weak byproduct of human evolution. He writes in his journal, "It was never within my best intentions to commit the atrocity that I did to him, despite what these pathetic townspeople seem to let loose from their foul lips, decrepit from the abuse of moreover what comes out of them than that which goes in." Personal Quotes : On his father's acceptance of his request to a duel, "Being the man he was, he accepted. Being the man I was, I cheated." : On his mental marksmanship ability, "It isn't so much conducting highly advanced mathematics with consideration of factors like wind speed, the Coriolis Effect, elevation variation and what-not, so much as it is just a natural feel as to how the projectile will travel and within what circumstances it will accomplish the task at hand." : On the outlook on his own possible death, "I plan to die here one day in both being the victor and the defeated in a duel with the man who I could never defeat, myself." Most Embarrassing Memory : When Lyle was a senior in high school he was attending a Kansas State archery competition. He was in the final round with the last opponent. Even though Lyle won the round by a long shot, Lyle never forgave himself for missing the 100 yards bullseye by 3.45 centimeters on his third shot. Proudest Memory : Du Font seems to take pride in nearly everything he does. However, he considers his greatest accomplishment to be when he killed Michael Harrison, the then post-war world reigning champion of pistol shooting in a duel upon his first visit to Sacramento. These were the conditions agreed upon for him to be able to leave the city. Upon seeing how quickly Du Font drew and shot his gun, the people went into an uproar and cheered, shouting Du Font's alias that he had given the announcer when asked his name, 'The Crusk'. Involvement to Truffleton : Son of prior mayor, Gregoire Du Font III and owner of the largest private building, the Du Font Manor, as well as possessing the largest material wealth in the town. Narrative Style : Lyle's character is narrated in a somewhat unique way. Rather than being told from an ongoing presence, his story is actually told by a series of journal entries, often dated with the time and year of their writing. Narratives I July 24, 2045 I fear that I am beginning to lose track of my goals. Amidst the chaos and idiocy of this world, moreover this town, I have became lost within some sort of existentialistic roundabout of my intentions. My excursions to the western coast of these lands, although quite a marvelous test of my skills, is only so entertaining. Sacramento is a terrible city, abased by the morons that populate it, and I am usually anxious to leave it despite the adorations that emanate from its streets. In addition, I fear that the denizens of my own town are growing impatient with me, and that the resources I bring back from my journeys may soon lose their appeal. So, it is for these reasons that I have resorted to writing in this notebook of mine, like Father use to do. He gave this notebook to me for my sixteenth birthday, though I never touched the thing. I was far too busy then with honing my skills with the draw of both the gun and bow. Perhaps now misery sheds its wounding light on me to utilize it in some sort of ill-humored manner. Those were truly darkening days, the ember of the sky that fell down; blue, red, yellow, green, and it was all met with the death of those who I loved. What sorrow could fill me as to do away with such treachery. This world is full of weak and worthless individuals who need comfort and feelings to excuse their atrocities, and only now are they beginning to realize this in the face of their own undoing. But I shall not take part of this world any longer. I have better things to do. If anything is left of purpose, then it is to become the only master left of anything in this society. My odyssey begins with my city…or at least what remains of it. Such a sorry lot to have survived, really. Honestly, fate could have done better. Still, I suppose, when life gives you lemons, you shoot the living Hell of them. It dreads me to think back onto that day. It was never within line of my best intentions to do what I did to him, despite what the pathetic townspeople let loose from their foul lips, decrepit from the abuse of what comes out of them rather than that which goes in. At the time, the jealously that had been growing within me had reached its apex, and in the burning zeal that I had carried back with my from my triumphant journey from the eastern lands prior to The War plaguing them further, I acted so foolishly upon it. Truffleton was perhaps worse off then than it is now, which I suppose shows signs of progress, but I digress. It was a terribly hot that day, and there hadn’t been rain for at least a week. There was little rain back then. It never rained then. Only twenty-three years ago, this same month, to think of it. That was before we had built the wall, and Truffleton was still quite a large city, albeit disoriented and disillusioned to the idea of a future. Emigrations of hopeful fools left the city day by day headed towards the western lands. I still recall them shouting foolish slurs like “California will save us all!” and “To the west we will cradle civilization!” Such incompetent fools. They are all surely dead now, that or assimilated into the early ranks of Beach’s army. Upon my return to the city I was immediately overcame with grief from the thought of Mother when I came close enough to see the skyline, that cursed tower standing high above the smokestacks of our factory. For the past year during my stay in the eastern lands I had been having reoccurring dreams of her death. The fall. I wasn’t there, but the image of Father screaming and I myself fitting into a rage against him. We were overcame we such an inharmonious combination of emotions. Stricken with grief and enraged with anger at each other. How pitiful emotions truly are at their core. I marched proudly to Father’s manor. I barged open the door and escorted myself to the workshop in the basement where he had locked himself up in the past year since Mother’s death. He raised his head to mine in the face of but one candle. I remember he was fiddling with something on his drawing desk. Whatever it was, the old man had already produced his masterpiece then, the very gun I hold now. I had figured then his purpose on this miserable world had been fulfilled. He looked back down at his drawings, entirely ignoring my presence. Angered, I yelled at him. I told him to challenge me right then. He sneered, but then agreed. I must admit I was a bit surprised. He was always the type of man I despised. Secretly, it was because I envied a man of such values. We held the duel outside the city in the deserted lands. No one was around. I do not remember much of the duel itself, though this much I can say concerning my father. He accepted, I know now, because of who he was. Being the man he was, he accepted. Being the man I was, I cheated. In these terms I have no regrets. This world is filthy, and any hopes of its progression lie within the cunning deceiving the gullible and reigning victor over the cadaver left in his wake. Like myself, Father was a man of great skill, and it was for this reason I harbored ill feelings for him. Indeed, the shot I heard from the barrel of my gun in that duel was like an acoustical orgasm. I merely turned around two steps earlier than the agreed upon fifteen paces. It was the only way to guarantee that I took to the victor as I rightly deserved. I just wish that there was another way to do it, but Father was an incredibly stubborn man. I anxiously went to his body, lying out in the middle of the cracked sands, dust sweeping over him in the winds. There it was, shining, golden, like a gift from the skies of Heaven, or, more suitably, from the depths of Hell. I picked up the mechanism, feeling its ebony crafted barrel with my fingers. Despite the glaring sun the metal around the device was surprisingly cold. I felt as if I were to shoot it a blast of ice would be shot from it. I had later discovered upon my return to the manor what Father was writing down when I arrived that day. They were notes of some improvements he had made on the device during my stay in the eastern lands. The weapon would rip the very foundations of the time space continuum upon its trigger. Being fueled by small quantities of anti-matter, which Father had been acquiring from the same man who still supplied it to me, the laboratory professor, Hubert Thanasis, the potential power was incredibly devastating. I dared not shoot the weapon off that day. I had too much to study on its nature before I did so. The townspeople soon found his dead body, although the mystery went unsolved for three years. At the first town meeting that the town had after The War had bombed the western side of Kansas past the Horrus Mountians, I stood up to announce that I was the murderer of the mayor, my own father. The townspeople were expectantly aghast, and so I comforted their wretched souls by telling them that any of them were invited to a duel with me. They quickly withdrew their scowls, and they have all despised me since. Still, they require the resources I bring over from my ventures into the lands of the U.A.F.S. and dare not approach or tempt me. I believe that is good for now. Too much writing can cause one to become absentminded of their surroundings, and therefore cause death in these uncertain times. The future of my town frightens me. Some madman has built his mansion beneath the factory, and the Pole City Boys still hold their capital in the factory itself. If this town ever plans to recuperate, things must change. I shall schedule a meeting with my antimatter supplier, Professor Thanasis, soon. I require his expertise on my next grand theft. I require a certain item rumored to be in possession of that crazed man who lives beneath the tainted soils of this town. Category:Characters Category:Writer Characters